Stay Connected

Need To Change Your Schedule?
Yikes, I'm Still On A Waitlist!

As you start classes, check your schedule and determine if you want to make any changes. You may drop or add courses during the first ten days of a semester - the regular drop/add period for all students. After attending your classes once, look at each syllabus, determine what the course will cover, and ask yourself the following questions about each course on your schedule:

Will this course test my interests/abilities for the majors I am exploring?

Is this course required?

Is this the best course I can select to cover an area of Liberal Education?

Am I still interested in the content of this course?

Does this course meet my expectations?

If you answered "no" to most of these questions for a particular course, then drop in to see an academic advisor at the START Center for help with choosing an alternative course.

Choosing Alternative Courses

Check course descriptions- see the current Academic Catalog.

Look for course materials- Read the course syllabus thoroughly.

Look at the textbooks- Go to Follett's Bookstore in Shaw Center and look through the required textbooks.

Visit a class - With the permission of the instructor, attend a lecture in another course, even if you are not enrolled in the course.

Get opinions from students who have taken the course - Be very cautious, however, about making decisions based solely on someone else's opinions. Other students' interests, abilities, and goals could be very different from yours.

Changing Your Schedule

Schedule changes should be discussed with an academic advisor. The START Center advisor will help you decide on changes, make sure you remain full-time so your financial package is not affected, are taking classes that you need, and that the answers to most of the above questions are "yes".

Add/Drop Procedures

Beginning with the first day of school, you must have an add/drop card with the instructor's signature to add a course.

Pick up an Add/Drop card from the START Center or the Registrar's office in Bamberger Hall and go to the first day of class of the course you want to add. If the faculty member signs you in, you're in great shape!

Take the signed Add/Drop card to the START Center or the Registrar's office. You are not registered for a course until someone adds it to your academic computer account.

If the faculty member did not sign you into the course, you need to find another class to round out your schedule. Advisors in the START Center can assist you.

You may drop classes without a signature. However, do not drop a course without considering the possible consequences for dropping - see below. Please check with an advisor in the START Center to make sure you are doing the right thing.

The last day in Fall 2011 to add classes is Friday, September 2nd by 5pm at the START Center or Registrar's office.

Things to consider before dropping a course:

1. How will dropping a course affect my financial aid?
In order to keep the same financial aid package from the college, you must have a minimum of 12 credit hours. Dropping below 12 hours could affect your financial aid package.

2. Will dropping a course affect my major?
Certain classes are taught fall or spring only, and for majors that are sequenced (like nursing), dropping a class now might put you behind a semester or more.

3. Why am I dropping this course?
Don't just drop courses arbitrarily--think through all of your options and see a START Center advisor before dropping any course.

"Yikes! I'm Still On A Waitlist"

A faculty signature is required to add a waitlisted course.

Go to the first day of class of your waitlisted class with an add/drop card in hand.

Your name will be on the instructor's class roster waitlist. Waitlisted students are allowed into classes in numerical order. When the faculty member decides the course has enough students in it and you're next on the WL, you will not be allowed in. Come to the START Center for help with finding another course.

Keep trying to get faculty signatures for different classes until you have a full schedule.

The last day to add courses is Friday, September 2nd by 5pm at the START Center or Registrar's office.

Double check each course you are waitlisted for. If you are not dropped from the WL, you could be automatically added into the course and never know it. You'll have a big surprise when you flunk the course (one you never attended!). Stop by the START Center or the Registrar's office to take care of this important step!